Cnoc na dTobar, a mountain on the Ring of Kerry is one of Ireland’s ancient sacred sites. To this very day pilgrims travel to this mountain to visit the holy well at its base, and to climb its slopes in contemplation.

Barb, a reader from Boston, recently returned from Ireland and on her trip she climbed to the top of this amazing mountain with camera in hand. The Kerry landscape did not disappoint, and I’m ever so grateful to her for sharing her photos with us today.

What Does The Name Mean?

The name literally means the hill of the well or wells.

Now, I’m not quite certain if the name refers to one or more wells. ‘Tobar’ is the Irish word for well. However, tobar is singular. However, if it was the hill of just one well it should be Cnoc an Tobar, and if there are multiple wells, it should be Cnoc na dTobair. An Irish language scholar will have to sort this one out for me. My rusty Irish is definitely not up to the task.

Anyway, there definitely is at least one holy well to be found at the base of the mountain. It’s dedicated to St. Fursa, who walked these mountains way back in the sixth century.

The well waters are known for their healing mineral properties, and locally are recommended for curing eye problems.

Where Is Cnoc na dTobar?

It lies a few miles from the town of Cahersiveen in the south west of County Kerry, often called the Skellig region on the Iveragh Peninsula.

The walk is aligned with the famous Skellig Rocks, which have become ever more famous after Luke Skywalker landed his space ship there.

The trail is well marked, and if agile and healthy, people of all ages can at least make it part of the way.

Your soul may be cleansed of all your sins as you huff and puff your way up to the top of the mountain, but it is the magnificent landscape on a clear day, that will make your soul sing.

With spectacular views of the Kerry mountains, Dingle Bay, and Valentia Island, the Kerry coastline spans out before you. On a good day you can even see as far as West Cork.

A Mountain with a Sacred Past:

Pagan pilgrims and medieval Christians flocked to this site for centuries.

In the days before St. Patrick brought Christianity to the Irish, the native Celts often assembled on this mountain to celebrate some of their seasonal feasts. Lughnasa, their harvest festival, was often marked on this very mountain. Here they would light fires, sing, dance and have a good old shindig when August came.

As the Celts adopted Christianity this mountain remained an important pilgrimage site. In 1885 Canon Brosnan, the parish priest of Cahersiveen, instructed fourteen crosses be built to mark the Stations of the Cross along the ancient trail on the mountain.

Croagh Patrick is the most famous of Ireland’s mountainous Pilgrim Paths, but Mount Brandon and Cnoc na dTobar in County Kerry were just as significant in days gone by.

Thanks for Sharing Your Photos:

Many thanks to Barb for giving me permission to publish her photos here. Many readers dream of taking a trip to Ireland, but some must be content to be armchair travelers. These photos will mean the world to those who love Ireland , but may never get there. Thanks so much for your generosity, Barb.

And, for all the armchair travelers out there, here’s a little video also featuring Barb’s photos.

The Irish people love stories of the faeries and the spirit world. And so, as you can only imagine, there are spirits associated with Dunamase.

The most famous spirit is that of a mystical guard dog.

There’s treasure reputed to have been buried beneath the Rock of Dunamase. But don’t bother trying to find it. A huge faerie mastiff, called Bandog, guards the hidden loot.

And Bandog is no ordinary guard dog. Fiery flames fly out of his gaping mouth, so steer clear of this half-dog, half-dragon, Irish mythological creature.

And for some, Dunamase truly is a spiritual place.

It has been identified as a thin place by one or two readers of Irish American Mom.

The church near the castle and beside the parking lot is called Holy Trinity church and is still in use today. Built in the 1860’s you’ll find interesting headstones beside it, if like me, you are interested in wandering through graveyards.

Dunamase may be off the beaten track for many tourists, but it’s easy to get there from the M7 motorway.

This national monument is in state care, but there are no facilities or stores at the site. However, there’s a nice parking area beside the church, so you don’t have to abandon your car on the side of a narrow country lane.

There’s a little climbing involved, and for those with impaired mobility, accessibility is poor.

And there you have it! My little tour of the Rock of Dunamase, an ancient castle ruin in the middle of Ireland.

Dolmens are megalithic monuments found dotted around the Irish landscape. Standing for millennia, they perch majestically on grassy hillsides, on craggy cliffs, on winding roadsides, and even right between modern day homes.

Ireland is home to over 150 of these ancient portal tombs, and so I think it is fair to consider these historic monuments as symbols of our ancient past.

And so today, I hope you’ll join me as we take a little tour of Ireland’s wondrous dolmens, both great and small.

Dolmen at Carrowmore, County Sligo

Dolmens are single-chamber megalithic tombs. Vertical stones usually support a massive flat capstone making the structure resemble a table.

When first built dolmens were typically covered with earth or smaller stones to form a tumulus. Over the centuries these earthen coverings have weathered away, revealing their spectacular stone “skeletons.”

Poulnabrone Dolmen in County Clare is the oldest known dolmen in Ireland. When excavated the remains of 22 people from the Neolithic Age were found. Their burial site beneath the monument included personal items like pottery and stone axes.

Altar Wedge Tomb near Schull, County Cork

The dolmen pictured above is found on the Mizen Peninsula in County Cork, a few miles west of the town of Schull. It’s called the Altar Wedge tomb. Perhaps it was used by the druids as an altar, but the Irish used it as an altar far more recently.

At the time of the Penal Laws in Ireland (17th century), when attending Mass was illegal, this dolmen in Cork was used as an altar by a priest-in-hiding, who would gather his flock to covertly say Mass. Locals would surround the area with lookouts for English soldiers, as the Irish prayed.

Colmen inside the stone fort at Carrowmore, County Sligo

With more than 100 dolmens scattered throughout Ireland, we know for certain our forebears attributed some special significance to building these monuments.

They built these structures to last, and they have stood the tests of time. Some are over 5000 years old and are found in various states of repair and disrepair throughout Ireland.

Have you ever wondered what’s the story behind the Blarney Stone? What’s all the fuss about landing a big smacker on a cold, inert lump of stone? And how on God’s good earth can a stone bestow the gift of eloquence?

That’s right – the stone is wedged right into the walls of an old medieval fortress, Blarney Castle, originally built, way back over 500 years ago, by the powerful MacCarthy clan from Cork.

Today, the interior of the castle lies in ruin. But the walls stand firm, to allow visitors climb to the battlements in search of the stone. I like the fact the castle has not been renovated. It adds to the ancient mysticism of the site.

that he who kisses the Blarney Stone

is endowed with the power ‘to blarney,’

and ‘to blarney,’ they say, is to humbug

with wheedling talk so as to gain a desired end….”

~Washington Post, 28 July 1912

Another story tells how Queen Elizabeth I ordered the Earl of Leicester to seize Blarney Castle from its Irish owner Cormac Teigue MacCarthy. But Cormac, through his gift of the gab, was up to the task of thwarting the Earl.

Whenever they met for negotiations MacCarthy distracted the Earl with banquets, entertainment and chat. The castle was never taken, and apparently the queen herself remarked the Earl’s reports on his progress were nothing but “blarney”.

And so, few dispute the stone’s powers, and what a gift it is to be able to speak a little blarney, but how and why this piece of bluestone came to be ensconced atop the battlements of a medieval keep in county Cork is another story altogether.

Myths and legends abound explaining how this came to be, but the true answer may always elude and continue to give rise to debate.

Legends Of Prophets, Saints And Kings:

One legend claims the Blarney Stone was actually Jacob’s Pillow. The prophet Jeremiah is said to have brought it to Ireland, where it became the “Lia Fáil” (pronounced Leah Fawl), meaning Stone of Destiny. This was the stone on the inauguration mound on the Hill of Tara, where the High Kings of Ireland were crowned. An ancient stone still stands on the Hill of Tara, but some believe the Blarney Stone to be the true Lia Fáil.

Another myth claims the stone was St. Columba’s deathbed pillow. He died on the island of Iona and after his death the stone was moved to mainland Scotland. There it became the Scottish Stone of Destiny.

Now the Scottish Stone of Destiny made its way back to Ireland as a gift from Robert the Bruce to Cormac MacCarthy, King of Munster, and owner of Blarney Castle. You see, Cormac didn’t like the English much, so he sent five thousand of his men over to Scotland to help Robert the Bruce defeat the English at Bannockburn in 1314.

To show his gratitude to Cormac, Robert split the Stone of Destiny and the portion we kiss today was transported back to Cork by Cormac to find a home in the walls of his MacCarthy castle.

Another legend claims the stone may have been brought back to Ireland from the Crusades. This myth claims it is the “Stone of Ezel.” This is the biblical stone behind which David hid to escape his enemy, Saul.

Another biblical origin sometimes proposed, is that this is the stone which gushed water upon being struck by Moses.

The Queen Of The Banshees:

Another legend claims it to be a true Irish stone. When Cormac Láidir MacCarthy (meaning strong Cormac MacCarthy) was building his castle he got involved in a little dispute that required him to appear in court. He said a little prayer to none other than Cliodhna (pronounced Clee-on-nah), the Queen of the Banshees.

Through a dream he received her instructions to kiss the first stone he saw on his way to the courthouse, which he duly did. He then proceeded to speak with such eloquence he won his court case. The stone was brought back to his castle and incorporated into the parapet.

You must lie on your back and then twist your spine and neck into extreme extension, then pucker those lips, to land a smooch bang smack right in the middle of the infamous stone.

And beware if you don’t have a head for heights. You can even see the ground, over 100 feet below, as you lean backwards.

Today a well trained and well practiced attendant helps all hopeful kissers to contort their spines into the requisite position, and luckily an iron railing has been placed to prevent any mishaps. Such was not the case years ago, and would-be kissers have succumbed to gravity, falling to their deaths in pursuit of eloquence.

And if you’re a germaphobe, good luck to you. On busy summer days over one thousand visitors pucker up to land their lips on this smooth and shiny slab of bluestone. If, for even one moment, you allow a thought of all that slobber cross your mind, you’ll never manage to purse those lips.

But if you’re anything like me, you’ll just throw caution to the wind and kiss that flag. The gift of the gab is so worth the risks.

A Little Poetry To End Our Blarney:

And so as a final tribute to the power of the Blarney Stone, I thought I would quote Francis Sylvester Mahony, an Irish bard of the early nineteenth century, who wrote:

There is a stone there, that whoever kisses,

Oh! He never misses to grow eloquent:

‘Tis he may clamber to a lady’s chamber,

Or become a member of Parliament.

A noble spouter he’ll sure turn out, or

An out and outer to be let alone;

Don’t try to hinder him, or to bewilder him,

For he is a pilgrim from the Blarney stone.”

~ Francis Sylvester Mahony

Don’t Forget To Check Out The Gardens:

Now many tourists to Blarney get so carried away with kissing the famous stone, they miss out on one of the highlights of a visit to the castle.

The grounds surrounding the castle are magical. So if your itinerary allows, take a little stroll through the 60 acres of parklands and discover all that Blarney has to offer.

And so I hope, as you explore the landmarks of Ireland, you may discover the enchantment that makes Ireland so captivating. And remember, Blarney is a spot where myth and legend await.

Now, I’m well aware “surreal physical spaces” is a term that could be used to describe a few fat rolls and muffin tops where heaven and earth and everything in between seem to touch, but let’s distract ourselves from diets and treadmills today by taking a mystical journey to discover Ireland’s thin places.

Celtic Origins Of The Term “Thin Places:”

Ireland is home to numerous thin places, so it may come as no surprise to learn that the term itself has Celtic origins.

Our forefathers believed some physical locations on earth are closer to the spiritual than others – places where God’s presence is more accessible to us as humans.

Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery, County Sligo

The exact origins of the term “thin places” may never be traced, but there is an ancient Celtic saying that beautifully introduces this terminology ….

“Heaven and earth are only three feet apart,

but in thin places that distance is even shorter.”

~ Celtic Saying

Ancient Celts spoke of mesmerizing, mystical places where the veil between heaven and earth is very thin. Past, present and future seem to collide in these spaces. It is as if the visitor witnesses or even experiences an ancient reality, in just a passing moment.

There is a luminous quality to the air and light. Rugged seacoasts, rocky mountain peaks and windswept beaches call out to Ireland’s thin place pilgrims to this very day.

The Grianan Stone Ring Fort in County Donegal

Ireland’s sacred landscape offers many sanctuaries of creation to visitors.

These mystical spots host no flashing lights, nor informational graphics to delight the senses. There are no tourist “rides” to satisfy our 21st century desire for instant gratification and entertainment.

Instead, Ireland’s thin places are raw and untamed, offering visitors a slow, seeping awareness of the magnificence of creation.

In these places it is important to pause, to feel the wind upon your cheeks, to drink in the landscape and the energy that exudes from the very earth and rocks.

Proleek Dolmen, County Louth

John O’Donohue, the Irish writer and Celtic philosopher said the purpose of these places is “to anchor our longing in the ancient longing of Nature.”

Native Americans were keenly aware of thin places. I love this Apache proverb which beautifully encapsulates the concept. It simply states …

“Wisdom sits in places.”

~ Apache Proverb

And believe me, there is much wisdom just waiting to be discovered in Ireland’s wise old places and spaces.

Ireland – A Pile Of Old Rocks:

A few years back I was talking to an American mom at one of my children’s weekly activities. Once she heard my Irish accent, she said …

“My friend just returned from Ireland,

but she thought it was just a pile of old rocks.”

My heart stopped beating for a split second. You know those moments in time – when the world around you seems to freeze, and litanies of thoughts and emotions catapult from the deep recesses of your mind.

The term “a pile of old rocks” pierced my very soul. These words maligned our ancient stones, misrepresenting our mystical heritage to the world.

I wanted to scream out in anguish …

“How could your friend not fall in love with Ireland’s thin places,

marked out by our wise ancestors using cryptic stones

that have stood sentinel for multiple millennia?”

But don’t worry I held my tongue, fully aware such a response might hastily assign me to the loony mom bin.

I just smiled, and asked if this Irish tourist was reconnecting with her Irish ancestry on her trip. I soon learned she had no links to Ireland. A wave of relief rushed over me as I quietly concluded her lack of interest in ancient stones and mythical heritage may simply be a genetic thing. Or perhaps, she may be totally unaware of the magic of thin places.

Genetically Wired To Appreciate Thin Places:

Just like many of you, I believe Ireland is truly my spiritual home. There, I feel a divine presence more acutely than anywhere else on earth.

It’s as if I am genetically wired to appreciate Ireland’s thin places, and to even find such spots that are not marked on the well worn tourist trail.

This deep spiritual connection to Mother Ireland gives many Irish Americans an uncanny ability to appreciate and experience the mysteries of Ireland’s thin places.

How To Recognize A “Thin Place?”

And here is the point in this blog post where I am going to try to do the impossible, fully aware that my words will fail. Describing what a thin place experience feels like, is simply beyond the power of language.

These places bring feelings and emotions, realizations and awareness to the fore. It is as if the line between all that is sacred and human meet for just a moment.

These are hallowed spaces, sometimes, though not necessarily, marked by a church or Christian symbols like Celtic Crosses. Many stone circles and ring forts were built in places where you can feel an ancient presence.

There is something otherworldly in the atmosphere, transcendent, even divine. Other dimensions seem closer than usual. There is a tangible stillness to the silence.

In a thin place something beyond words causes our spines to tingle, as if awakening our souls. Even our thoughts seem to be swept away in the moment, and something deep within our beings touches a luminous seat of knowledge.

You may visit a thin place as part of a group, but each person will experience something different. One man’s thin place may be a very thick place to another.

If you find your thin place, no matter how many others are with you, you will feel drawn by something powerful, yet unspoken. Despite the companionship of others you will be lost in a solitary world between past and present.

Lough Crew, County Westmeath

Your soul feels awash with time, eager to linger, while lost in the silence of natural prayer, and the confluence of worlds and dimensions.

The more spiritually skeptical or scientifically inclined amongst us may attribute these effects to electromagnetic fields that some rocks may generate to make some locations feel different. Or perhaps there is some type of seismic activity beneath our feet contributing to our mystical experiences?

But as for me, I feel no need to rationalize the experience of a thin place. Even if our science fails to explain the reasons, or our words fail to express the sublimity, the awe inspiring power of thin places is exhilarating.

The After Effects Of Visiting Thin Places:

I highly recommend visiting Ireland’s thin places as a form of spiritual renewal, whatever your faith or beliefs might be. Returning from a thin place is marked by a feeling of refreshment and renewal. Our awareness of the world around us becomes heightened.

In days, weeks and years to come, memories of sacred landscapes help us see glimpses of nature and the divine in the chaotic world around our urban existences.

The Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry

The prayerfulness of these little corners on earth urge us to return to them in our imagination when we cannot physically visit them again.

When overwhelmed by the monotony of daily life, the tedious details of work and living, we can listen to our hearts and hear the silent music of thin places. Our souls guide us back to the peaceful presence of those ancient stones, and help us draw strength from the peace and serenity of our thin place experiences.

Have you ever experienced something you might call a thin place? Feel free to let us know in the comment section below.

Where To Find Ireland’s Thin Places:

And so you may be thinking you too would like to undertake a spiritual walkabout or driveabout in Ireland.

You can choose an unplanned journey of discovery, keeping an open mind and open heart in search of your thin place to experience a spiritual revelation.

Ardmore, County Waterford

Or you can research with the experts. Mindie Burgoyne, is a travel writer, blogger, author, tour operator and speaker. Here’s what she says on her blog …

“Her focus is traveling within the context of a story to mystical – magical places that stir the mind and spirit.”

Her blog, Thin Places, is a wonderful, insightful guide to Irish Mystical Sites. She teaches us there’s far more than meets the eye to Ireland’s “piles of old rocks”.

Thank you, Mindy, for sharing and recording such important information about Ireland’s amazing heritage.